Crime & Safety

Police Officers Charged with Federal Civil Rights Violations

Four East Haven police officers have been indicted on 10 separate counts, according to the federal grand jury's unsealed indictment document.

EAST HAVEN – The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested four officers early Tuesday morning in relation to the federal grand jury investigation into allegations of racial profiling and police brutality against Latino residents, according to a New Haven Register report.

East Haven Police Officers Dennis Spaulding, David Cari, Jason Zullo and Sgt. John Miller were charged with 10 separate counts of federal criminal civil rights offenses, including conspiracy against rights, three counts of deprivation of rights by using unreasonable force, three counts of deprivation of rights by conducting false arrests and three counts of obstruction through false reporting.

U.S. Attorney David B. Fein, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and Janice K. Fedarcyk, assistant director-in-charge at the New York Office of the FBI held a press conference at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Bridgeport Tuesday morning to discuss the charges. The unsealed Grand Jury indictment document is attached.

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The Register reported that Miller, the head of East Haven Police officers , and Cari, part of the department's , were arrested at police headquarters on North High Street.

The four officers are scheduled to appear Tuesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport federal court, which is located at 915 Lafayette Blvd., the U.S. Attorney's Office reports.

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At a Jan. 4 press conference, legislators called for refinement to the in response to the federal probe into East Haven Police Department practices, according to The CT Mirror.

The files motor vehicle stop data monthly with the African-American Affairs Commission, though the law only requires departments to do so annually.

Editor's Note: The original version of this article appeared on .


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